Knowing that you are paid less than your peers has two effects on happiness. One is negative: a thinner pay packet hurts self-es

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问题     Knowing that you are paid less than your peers has two effects on happiness. One is negative: a thinner pay packet hurts self-esteem(自尊). The other is called the "tunnel" effect: the income gap is seen as improving your own chances of similar riches.
    A paper co-authored by Felix FitzRoy of the University of St. Andrews separates the two effects using data from household surveys in Germany. Previous work showed that the income of others can have a small, or even positive, overall effect on employees’ satisfaction in individual firms in Denmark or in very dynamic economies, such as Eastern Europe. But Mr. FitzRoy’s team proposed that older workers, who largely know their lifetime incomes already, will enjoy a much smaller tunnel effect. The negative effect on reported levels of happiness of being paid less than your peers is not visible for people aged under 45. In western Germany, seeing peers’ incomes rising actually makes young people happier. It is only those people over 45, when careers have "reached a stable position", whose happiness is harmed by the success of others.
    The prospect of more than 20 years of hard work might make retirement seem more attractive. Those with jobs are no happier after they retire, however, perhaps because their lives already agree with social expectations. Unemployment is known to damage happiness because not working falls short of social expectations. Pensions or increased leisure time cannot make up for the loss of social acceptance. Unemployed people are dissatisfied with their life not only because they have lower incomes, but also because they may get low and negative recognition from others.
    Indeed, retiring early from work can have side-effects. Another paper, co-authored by Andreas Kuhn of the University of Zurich, investigates the effect of a change in Austrian employment-insurance rules that allow blue-collar workers earlier retirement in some regions than others. Men retiring a year early lower their chance of surviving to age 67 by 13% . Almost a third of this higher death rate seemed to be concentrated among those who were forced into early retirement by job loss. The death was caused by smoking and alcohol consumption. If you’re in a job, even when you are paid less, hang on in there.
What does Felix FitzRoy’s team infer from the data from household surveys?

选项 A、Older people feel thankful for working in a stable environment.
B、Young people feel unpleasant about being paid less than their peers.
C、The success of peers exerts a negative impact on people over 45.
D、Young workers under 45 appreciate a much smaller tunnel effect.

答案C

解析 推理判断题。本题考查菲利克斯·菲茨罗伊的团队依据对德国家庭调查获得的数据得出的推论。原文第二段末句提到,只有那些“处于事业稳定期”的45岁以上的员工,他们的幸福感才会因为别人的成功而受到伤害。由此可知,同事的成功对45岁以上的员工产生负面的影响,故答案为C)。A)“年纪较大的员工很感谢工作环境稳定”与原文中的…those people over 45,when careers have“reached a stable position”…的逻辑不符,故排除;B)“年轻人会因为薪水比同事少而感到不高兴”,原文第二段第四句和第五句提到,对于那些45岁以下的员工,比同事薪水少对幸福感所造成的负面影响并不明显。在德国西部,看到同事收入增长实际上使年轻人感到更幸福。B)的逻辑和原文不符,故排除;D)“45岁以下的年轻员工享受着较小的隧道效应”与原文第二段第三句的信息不符,原文提到的是older workers…will enjoy a much smaller tunnel effect,故排除。
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